defending the ‘dark ages’ _ history today
TRANSCRIPT
-
8/17/2019 Defending the ‘Dark Ages’ _ History Today
1/16
14/05/2016 Defending the ‘Dark Ages’ | History Today
http://www.historytoday.com/ian-morti mer/defending-%E2%80%98dark- ages%E2%80%99#sthash.QKiZke8o.gbpl&st_refDomain=w ww.facebook.com&s… 1/16
In describing the violent culture of the fifth and sixth
centuries, the term ‘Dark Ages’ has both meaning and resonance.
Defending the ‘Dark Ages’
By Ian Mortimer (/author/ian-mortimer)
Posted 12th May 2016, 9:10
(/)
Subscribe
(/subscribe)
http://www.historytoday.com/subscribehttp://www.historytoday.com/http://www.historytoday.com/author/ian-mortimer
-
8/17/2019 Defending the ‘Dark Ages’ _ History Today
2/16
14/05/2016 Defending the ‘Dark Ages’ | History Today
http://www.historytoday.com/ian-morti mer/defending-%E2%80%98dark- ages%E2%80%99#sthash.QKiZke8o.gbpl&st_refDomain=w ww.facebook.com&s… 2/16
Statue of the sixth-century monk Gildas
Recently, Kate Wiles took English Heritage to task
(http://www.historytoday.com/kate-wiles/back-dark-ages) for describing the
period c.410 to 1066 as the ‘Dark Ages’, which the organisation does both in its
timeline Story of England and in information boards at historical sites around the
country.
Wiles is not alone in championing Anglo-Saxon England as being anything but ‘dark’.
However, her call to arms suffers from similar flaws to the English Heritage timeline.
It is not the term ‘Dark Ages’ per se that is wrong, it is how it is applied.
The root of the problem lies in the use of a single term to describe the period c. 410-
1066 – 656 years is too long for a period to have any meaning. It amounts to more
than 150 per cent of the late medieval period (1066-1485), which English Heritage
http://www.historytoday.com/kate-wiles/back-dark-ages
-
8/17/2019 Defending the ‘Dark Ages’ _ History Today
3/16
14/05/2016 Defending the ‘Dark Ages’ | History Today
http://www.historytoday.com/ian-morti mer/defending-%E2%80%98dark- ages%E2%80%99#sthash.QKiZke8o.gbpl&st_refDomain=w ww.facebook.com&s… 3/16
considers too long and which it therefore divides into two sections (before and after
the Black Death).
The massive variations of government and culture mark out these 656 years as a
whole succession of tumultuous periods. England went from a state of post-Roman
collapse to an emerging set of Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, fringed by Celtic ones. The
number of those kingdoms diminished and rose and fell in importance until
Æthelstan became king of England in 927. Before and after that date Britain was
riven by Viking invasions. Parts of the kingdom were occupied by invaders;
eventually the whole kingdom was subsumed in Cnut’s empire.
It is in describing the violent culture of the fifth and sixth centuries, combined with
the obscurity of the politics of the period, that the term ‘Dark Ages’ has both
meaning and resonance. When states collapse, the process is usually obscured by
the confusion that surrounds that violence. Therefore the term is useful for those of
us who need to explain to the public what happened when the Roman Empire
crumbled.
However, the evidence that Wiles cites to diminish the idea that the Anglo-Saxon
period was ‘dark’ dates from the seventh century or later. She states that the Anglo-
Saxons ‘had an elaborate legal system’, that the country was ‘peopled with learned
men and women, highly educated in Latin and English’, that ‘charters show that
laws, administration and learning were not just for an educated elite’, that the
coinage ‘shows an elaborate and controlled economy’, and that the Saxons ‘had
trade routes stretching across the known world and were… able to buy spices
pigments and cloth from thousands of miles away (many manuscripts use a blue
pigment made from lapis lazuli, brought from Afghanistan).’
None of these things were true of England between 410 and 597. No set of law codes
was written down until that of Æthelberht of Kent, after his conversion to
Christianity (between 597 and 601). No charter or copy of a charter dates frombefore 600. No original Anglo-Saxon document of any sort – let alone one decorated
-
8/17/2019 Defending the ‘Dark Ages’ _ History Today
4/16
14/05/2016 Defending the ‘Dark Ages’ | History Today
http://www.historytoday.com/ian-morti mer/defending-%E2%80%98dark- ages%E2%80%99#sthash.QKiZke8o.gbpl&st_refDomain=w ww.facebook.com&s… 4/16
all the columns were levelled with the ground by the frequent strokes
of the battering-ram, all the husbandmen routed, together with their
bishops, priests, and people, whilst the sword gleamed and the flames
crackled around them on every side. Lamentable to behold, in the
midst of the streets lay the tops of lofty towers, tumbled to the ground,
stones of high walls, holy altars, fragments of human bodies, covered
with livid clots of coagulated blood, looking as if they had been
squeezed together in a press; and with no chance of being buried, save
in the ruins of the houses, or in the ravening bellies of wild beasts and
birds;
in lapis lazuli – dates from those years. No coins were minted in England. No
buildings survive beyond excavated post-holes, a few stone foundations and some
walls incorporating re-used Roman bricks. The best evidence for long-distance
trade is the excavated shards of pottery from abroad, but these could be as muchdue to the work of pirates as long-distance traders. The term ‘dark’ is appropriate
for how little we can see of these two centuries and how little cultural achievement
or innovation is visible.
A glimpse of what these ‘Dark Ages’ were was like for those that lived through them
may be gleaned from Gildas’s Of the ruin and conquest of Britain, written in the first
half of the sixth century. He wrote of the Saxon invasion that
When Gildas set out to write of the decline of Roman authority in Britain and the
ensuing invasion, he could find no domestic sources at all and had to use
continental sources. Even though his literary style shows that there were still men of
education and erudition in Dark Age Britain, he was one of a very small number.
Even in the period 960-1060, there were probably no more than a thousand literatemen in England at any one time. It is unlikely that there were more than a few dozen
-
8/17/2019 Defending the ‘Dark Ages’ _ History Today
5/16
14/05/2016 Defending the ‘Dark Ages’ | History Today
http://www.historytoday.com/ian-morti mer/defending-%E2%80%98dark- ages%E2%80%99#sthash.QKiZke8o.gbpl&st_refDomain=w ww.facebook.com&s… 5/16
in Gildas’s time. The fact that his work alone has survived, and that later Saxon
compilers had no alternative authors on whom to draw, indicates that he was a
brilliant jewel in a very dark age.
It was around 600 that the kings of Kent started granting charters, had sets of their
laws written down and commenced minting their own coins. The marriage of
Æthelberht of Kent to a Frankish bride, Bertha, and his adoption of her religion of
Christianity, further linked him to Continental powers, with their long-distance
information networks and trading routes. These cultural features, which are all
indicative of a more stable state, contrast with the preceding period. Indeed, they
may be counted as constituting something of a renaissance, and thus a terminationof the cultural crises that perpetuated the Dark Ages.
‘Dark Ages’ thus has real relevance for describing the post-Roman period. It is useful
that it has become widely known as a plural, for it does consist of ages – the decline
of Roman Britain, the age of invasion by Continental warriors, a protracted period of
rule by warrior kings and finally the emergence of series of relatively stable
kingdoms, each capable of introducing the legal, social and economic reforms
necessary for the prosperity of its people.
However, that last ‘age’ is unlikely to have been experienced at the same time all
over England. The Dark Ages may have drawn to a close in Kent around 600 but they
lasted longer elsewhere. Wessex saw its first charters issued around 670 and its laws
written down in the reign of King Ine (r.688-726); its earliest coins may have been
minted in Ine’s reign, too. Genuine charters in Mercia date from the 690s and coins
appeared in the early eighth century. In Northumbria, coins were minted from at
least the reign of Aldfrith (685-705). At the same time, a cultural renaissance took
place there, which resulted in the greatest artistic and literary treasures of the age
to survive, including the Lindisfarne Gospels (c. 700) and the works of Bede.
-
8/17/2019 Defending the ‘Dark Ages’ _ History Today
6/16
14/05/2016 Defending the ‘Dark Ages’ | History Today
http://www.historytoday.com/ian-morti mer/defending-%E2%80%98dark- ages%E2%80%99#sthash.QKiZke8o.gbpl&st_refDomain=w ww.facebook.com&s… 6/16
Few would argue that the Dark Ages extended much beyond 700 and Wiles was
right to object to English Heritage’s use of the label to describe the eighth century
and later. In addition to the flourishing of Kent and the Northumbrian renaissance,
there was a Carolingian renaissance under Charlemagne, in which Englishmen likeAlcuin played a role. The reign of Offa (who ruled over Mercia and most of southern
and central England) was also of international significance. Offa had a gold dinar
minted in his name with an Arabic inscription praising Allah in order to open up
trading opportunities for his subjects in the Muslim Iberian caliphate.
There is no doubt that separating the Dark Ages from the later Saxon period will
displease some educators, especially given the fact that there is no specific cut-off date that can be applied to the whole country. In that, the phrase is rather like ‘The
Renaissance’: it describes a phenomenon that has meaning in different places at
different times. But that is its virtue. It is a simple term that does something
complex: it transcends the usual dynastic borders and difficulties of date and
illustrates something of the character of the age. But it does not represent England
between the eighth and 11th centuries.
Lastly, I recognise that English Heritage have used the term ‘the Dark Ages’ out of a
desire to help people understand the past. However, it has dropped the professional
bar too low. Architects, when designing buildings for the public, are not expected to
lower their professional standards. Nor are politicians, doctors, lawyers and
members of any other profession. So why do heritage organisations and TV
producers think that they somehow improve their service to the public by
simplifying their subject to the level of misinformation? Those who stoop almost to
the level of amateurism to engage the public are doing no one any favours.
Ian Mortimer is author of The Human Race: Ten Centuries of Change on Earth
(Vintage, 2015).
More by Ian Mortimer (/author/ian-mortimer)
http://www.historytoday.com/author/ian-mortimer
-
8/17/2019 Defending the ‘Dark Ages’ _ History Today
7/16
14/05/2016 Defending the ‘Dark Ages’ | History Today
http://www.historytoday.com/ian-morti mer/defending-%E2%80%98dark- ages%E2%80%99#sthash.QKiZke8o.gbpl&st_refDomain=w ww.facebook.com&s… 7/16
5 Comments 1
• •
Charles West •
Thanks for this piece: it's good to be having this discussion, which I think is actually quite
important, and I admire your courage in coming to the Dark Ages's defence! I also agree with
your final paragraph wholeheartedly. But I'm afraid I don't think the rest quite stacks up, at least
not to me. Some quick reflections:
1. I don't think we can read Gildas as accurately representing levels of violence: as you say, thisis rhetoric
2. I don't think it's possible to say whether the 5th and 6th centuries are more or less violent than
previous or later times (given that states often orchestrate large-scale violence, they were quite
probably less).
3. I don't think there's an inherent reason why periods can't stretch for six centuries or more
(some people after all talk about the pre-modern)
4. Our understanding of the period has been transformed since the term "DA" was coined in the
19th century, not least by vastly more archaeological evidence. I don't think it is particularly
mysterious these days.5. But the underlying problem is that Dark Ages is an emotive, othering term, which casts a moral
udgement on an entire society, even when placed between apostrophes. I think we as historians
can and should do better. In a sense, I think your excellent final paragraph cuts against the rest of
the argument.
• •
Oscarthe4th •
Great points. However, I'm inclined to disagree with your statement on violence. There is
another aspect of the dislocation that we know too little about, and that is starvation andthe struggle over resources.
The decline in trade forced more local agricultural production. One result is that cities
depopulated. Cities don't depopulate casually; not on that scale. And people shifting back
to the country side may or may not have had useful agricultur al skill beyond strong backs.
I'm inclined to think that lots of small scale violence happened in that process. It also
seems logical that lots of localized starvation occurred as trade broke down and poor
farming weather in isolated locations became more catastrophic as a result.
https://disqus.com/by/Oscarthe4th/https://disqus.com/by/Oscarthe4th/https://disqus.com/by/Oscarthe4th/http://www.historytoday.com/ian-mortimer/defending-%E2%80%98dark-ages%E2%80%99#comment-2671711784http://www.historytoday.com/ian-mortimer/defending-%E2%80%98dark-ages%E2%80%99#comment-2671989306http://www.historytoday.com/ian-mortimer/defending-%E2%80%98dark-ages%E2%80%99#comment-2671711784https://disqus.com/home/forums/historytoday/https://disqus.com/home/inbox/https://disqus.com/by/louiseculmer/https://disqus.com/by/Oscarthe4th/http://www.historytoday.com/ian-mortimer/defending-%E2%80%98dark-ages%E2%80%99#comment-2673145138https://disqus.com/by/louiseculmer/http://www.historytoday.com/ian-mortimer/defending-%E2%80%98dark-ages%E2%80%99#comment-2671711784http://www.historytoday.com/ian-mortimer/defending-%E2%80%98dark-ages%E2%80%99#comment-2671989306https://disqus.com/by/Oscarthe4th/http://www.historytoday.com/ian-mortimer/defending-%E2%80%98dark-ages%E2%80%99#comment-2671711784https://disqus.com/home/inbox/https://disqus.com/home/forums/historytoday/
-
8/17/2019 Defending the ‘Dark Ages’ _ History Today
8/16
14/05/2016 Defending the ‘Dark Ages’ | History Today
http://www.historytoday.com/ian-morti mer/defending-%E2%80%98dark- ages%E2%80%99#sthash.QKiZke8o.gbpl&st_refDomain=w ww.facebook.com&s… 8/16
• •
ou se u mer •
How do you inow there were only a thousand literate people?
• •
Lily Esmiol Minas •
I have a problem with that line, too. Alfred the Great promoted reading while he was king.His son and grandson and many ealdormen could most certainly read as could many
religious men and women and the other kingdoms most likely followed suit. I think 1000 is
probably quite low.
• •
TheRedTory •
Well argued. So would be fair to say the Dark Ages lasted from the collapse of the Roman Empire
in Britain to 600 AD (give or take a few decades depending on the geographical area)?
SUBSCRIBE TO OUR DIGITAL EDITION
(https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/history-today-
magazine/id1040111916?mt=8)
(https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.historytoday)
(http://www.amazon.com/History-Today-Ltd/dp/B017C0XUAC/ref=sr_1_13?s=mobile-
apps&ie=UTF8&qid=1446187995&sr=1-13&keywords=history+today)
Sign up for our free weekly newsletter
Enter your email address
Sign Up
http://www.amazon.com/History-Today-Ltd/dp/B017C0XUAC/ref=sr_1_13?s=mobile-apps&ie=UTF8&qid=1446187995&sr=1-13&keywords=history+todayhttps://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.historytodayhttps://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/history-today-magazine/id1040111916?mt=8https://disqus.com/by/CaerCaradoc/https://disqus.com/by/lilyesmiolminas/https://disqus.com/by/louiseculmer/https://help.disqus.com/customer/portal/articles/1657951?utm_source=disqus&utm_medium=embed-footer&utm_content=privacy-btnhttps://publishers.disqus.com/engage?utm_source=historytoday&utm_medium=Disqus-Footerhttps://disqus.com/http://www.historytoday.com/ian-mortimer/defending-%E2%80%98dark-ages%E2%80%99#comment-2674215584https://disqus.com/by/CaerCaradoc/http://www.historytoday.com/ian-mortimer/defending-%E2%80%98dark-ages%E2%80%99#comment-2673145138http://www.historytoday.com/ian-mortimer/defending-%E2%80%98dark-ages%E2%80%99#comment-2674048008https://disqus.com/by/lilyesmiolminas/http://www.historytoday.com/ian-mortimer/defending-%E2%80%98dark-ages%E2%80%99#comment-2673145138https://disqus.com/by/louiseculmer/
-
8/17/2019 Defending the ‘Dark Ages’ _ History Today
9/16
14/05/2016 Defending the ‘Dark Ages’ | History Today
http://www.historytoday.com/ian-morti mer/defending-%E2%80%98dark- ages%E2%80%99#sthash.QKiZke8o.gbpl&st_refDomain=w ww.facebook.com&s… 9/16
Recent
(/alison-kinney/his-hood)
Off with his Hood (/alison-kinney/his-hood)By Alison Kinney
Exploring our tortured relationship with life,death, mortality and museums
http://www.historytoday.com/daniel-beer/russia%E2%80%99s-war-terrorhttp://www.historytoday.com/alison-kinney/his-hoodhttp://www.historytoday.com/alison-kinney/his-hood
-
8/17/2019 Defending the ‘Dark Ages’ _ History Today
10/16
14/05/2016 Defending the ‘Dark Ages’ | History Today
http://www.historytoday.com/ian-morti mer/defending-%E2%80%98dark- ages%E2%80%99#sthash.QKiZke8o.gbpl&st_refDomain=w ww.facebook.com&… 10/16
Popular Topics
(/daniel-beer/russia%E2%80%99s-war-terror)
Russia’s War on Terror (/daniel-beer/russia%E2%80%99s-war-terror)By Daniel Beer
For the tsarist regime, Siberia was a ‘vastprison without a roof’
(/ian-mortimer/defending-%E2%80%98dark-ages%E2%80%99)
Defending the ‘Dark Ages’ (/ian-mortimer/defending-%E2%80%98dark-ages%E2%80%99)By Ian Mortimer
The term ‘Dark Ages’ has both meaning andresonance
http://www.historytoday.com/ian-mortimer/defending-%E2%80%98dark-ages%E2%80%99http://www.historytoday.com/ian-mortimer/defending-%E2%80%98dark-ages%E2%80%99http://www.historytoday.com/daniel-beer/russia%E2%80%99s-war-terrorhttp://www.historytoday.com/daniel-beer/russia%E2%80%99s-war-terror
-
8/17/2019 Defending the ‘Dark Ages’ _ History Today
11/16
14/05/2016 Defending the ‘Dark Ages’ | History Today
http://www.historytoday.com/i an-mor tim er/defending-%E2%80%98dark- ages%E2%80%99#sthash.QKiZke8o.gbpl&st_refDomain=www.facebook.com&… 11/16
(/archive/collection/alexander-great)
Alexander the Great /archive/collection/alexander-great)
Read more (/archive/collection/alexander-great)
http://www.historytoday.com/archive/collection/alexander-greathttp://www.historytoday.com/archive/collection/alexander-greathttp://www.historytoday.com/archive/collection/alexander-great
-
8/17/2019 Defending the ‘Dark Ages’ _ History Today
12/16
14/05/2016 Defending the ‘Dark Ages’ | History Today
http://www.historytoday.com/ian-morti mer/defending-%E2%80%98dark- ages%E2%80%99#sthash.QKiZke8o.gbpl&st_refDomain=w ww.facebook.com&… 12/16
(/archive/themes/fashion)
Fashion /archive/themes/fashion)
Read more (/archive/themes/fashion)
http://www.historytoday.com/archive/themes/fashionhttp://www.historytoday.com/archive/themes/fashionhttp://www.historytoday.com/archive/themes/fashion
-
8/17/2019 Defending the ‘Dark Ages’ _ History Today
13/16
14/05/2016 Defending the ‘Dark Ages’ | History Today
http://www.historytoday.com/ian-morti mer/defending-%E2%80%98dark- ages%E2%80%99#sthash.QKiZke8o.gbpl&st_refDomain=w ww.facebook.com&… 13/16
Most Read
1. The theory of relativity (/richard-cavendish/theory-relativity)
(/archive/period/reformation)
Reformation /archive/period/reformation)
Read more (/archive/period/reformation)
http://www.historytoday.com/archive/period/reformationhttp://www.historytoday.com/archive/period/reformationhttp://www.historytoday.com/archive/period/reformationhttp://www.historytoday.com/richard-cavendish/theory-relativity
-
8/17/2019 Defending the ‘Dark Ages’ _ History Today
14/16
14/05/2016 Defending the ‘Dark Ages’ | History Today
http://www.historytoday.com/ian-morti mer/defending-%E2%80%98dark- ages%E2%80%99#sthash.QKiZke8o.gbpl&st_refDomain=w ww.facebook.com&… 14/16
2. Back to the Dark Ages (/kate-wiles/back-dark-ages)
3. Seduced by Simplicity (/paul-lay/seduced-simplicity)
4. Defending the ‘Dark Ages’ (/ian-mortimer/defending-%E2%80%98dark-
ages%E2%80%99)
5. Aristotle: Five Key Works (/rhys-griffiths/aristotle-five-key-works)
(/paul-reynolds/man-who-predicted-great-war)
The Man Who Predicted the Great War (/paul-reynolds/man-who-predicted-great-war)
(/greg-carleton/russia-forever-time-troubles)
Russia: Forever a Time of Troubles (/greg-carleton/russia-forever-time-troubles)
http://www.historytoday.com/greg-carleton/russia-forever-time-troubleshttp://www.historytoday.com/greg-carleton/russia-forever-time-troubleshttp://www.historytoday.com/paul-reynolds/man-who-predicted-great-warhttp://www.historytoday.com/paul-reynolds/man-who-predicted-great-warhttp://www.historytoday.com/rhys-griffiths/aristotle-five-key-workshttp://www.historytoday.com/ian-mortimer/defending-%E2%80%98dark-ages%E2%80%99http://www.historytoday.com/paul-lay/seduced-simplicityhttp://www.historytoday.com/kate-wiles/back-dark-ages
-
8/17/2019 Defending the ‘Dark Ages’ _ History Today
15/16
14/05/2016 Defending the ‘Dark Ages’ | History Today
http://www.historytoday.com/ian-morti mer/defending-%E2%80%98dark- ages%E2%80%99#sthash.QKiZke8o.gbpl&st_refDomain=w ww.facebook.com&… 15/16
(/tom-holland/islams-origins-where-mystery-meets-
history)
Islam's Origins: Where Mystery Meets History (/tom-holland/islams-origins-where-mystery-meets-history)
(/ian-kershaw/hitler-myth)
The Hitler Myth (/ian-kershaw/hitler-myth)
(/graeme-garrard/washington-burning)
Washington is Burning (/graeme-garrard/washington-
burning)
(/peter-h-wilson/holy-roman-empire)
The Holy Roman Empire (/peter-h-wilson/holy-roman-
empire)
http://www.historytoday.com/peter-h-wilson/holy-roman-empirehttp://www.historytoday.com/peter-h-wilson/holy-roman-empirehttp://www.historytoday.com/graeme-garrard/washington-burninghttp://www.historytoday.com/graeme-garrard/washington-burninghttp://www.historytoday.com/ian-kershaw/hitler-mythhttp://www.historytoday.com/ian-kershaw/hitler-mythhttp://www.historytoday.com/tom-holland/islams-origins-where-mystery-meets-historyhttp://www.historytoday.com/tom-holland/islams-origins-where-mystery-meets-history
-
8/17/2019 Defending the ‘Dark Ages’ _ History Today
16/16
14/05/2016 Defending the ‘Dark Ages’ | History Today
© Copyright 2016 History Today Ltd. Company no. 1556332.
About Us (/about-us) Advertising (/advertising) Staff (/staff) Contact (/contact) Subscribe (/subscribe) Where to Buy (/find)
RSS feeds (/rss) Ebooks (/ebooks) Submit an Article (/submissions) Jobs (/jobs) Cookie policy (/cookies-policy)
Awards (/longman-history-today-awards) Back Issues & Binders (/shop/back-issues-binders)
http://www.historytoday.com/shop/back-issues-bindershttp://www.historytoday.com/longman-history-today-awardshttp://www.historytoday.com/cookies-policyhttp://www.historytoday.com/jobshttp://www.historytoday.com/submissionshttp://www.historytoday.com/ebookshttp://www.historytoday.com/rsshttp://www.historytoday.com/findhttp://www.historytoday.com/subscribehttp://www.historytoday.com/contacthttp://www.historytoday.com/staffhttp://www.historytoday.com/advertisinghttp://www.historytoday.com/about-us